Part 2 - Licensing procedures
The Parts of the Regulation are:
Part 1 Preliminary (Clauses 1-6)
Part 2 Licensing procedures (Clauses 7-29)
Part 3 Facilities and equipment requirements (Clauses 30-50)
Part 4 Staffing requirements (Clauses 51-57)
Part 5 Child number requirements (Clauses 58-63)
Part 6 Operational requirements (Clauses 64-84)
Part 7 Administrative requirements (Clauses 85-116)
Part 8 Probity checks (Clauses 117-122)
Part 9 Miscellaneous (Clauses 123-125)
Schedule 1 Records to be kept for each child
Schedule 2 Savings and Transitional Provision
Schedule 2 - Dictionary
Q. What will happen when a licence application is submitted and found to be incomplete?
A. If your application does not have all the necessary information and documents attached, it is considered to be an incomplete application. If this is the case you will receive a letter telling you which information and documents are missing and the whole package will be returned to you.
Refer to Clause 8 - How is an application made?
Q. Does the application for a licence for a new service have to be submitted six months in advance?
A. New services cannot lodge their licence application six months in advance of the expiry date of their current licence because they have not yet been issued with a licence.
Prospective licensees should refer to the licensing process section of the Guide to Children’s Services Licensing.
Who nominates an authorised supervisor?
A. The licensee for a children’s service, other than a home based service, must nominate a person as the proposed supervisor for the service, see clause 15(1)(a).
A maximum of two people can be approved as authorised supervisors for a service at any one time. See section 208(4) of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.
The Regulation requires the authorised supervisor for a children’s service to have the overall supervision of the provision of the service, that is, to be responsible for the day to day running of the service, see clause 56(a). However, if a service has two authorised supervisors, only one of them is to have overall responsibility for the service on any given day or at any given time.
Refer to Clause 15 - Authorised supervisor and Clause 102 - Change of authorised supervisor.
Q. How does an authorised supervisor comply with the requirements for child protection training?
A. Child Protection training is a requirement for approval as an authorised supervisor under Clause 15(2)(e) of the Children’s Services Regulation 2004.
Under this requirement:
- people who were approved as and employed as an authorised supervisor in NSW when the Children’s Services Regulation 2004 came into effect on 30 September 2004 and who successfully completed the ‘Making a Difference’ training package are not required to undertake any further child protection training. (A certified copy demonstrating successful completion of this training will be accepted by DoCS as meeting the requirements of this clause for this group)
- people who were approved as and employed as an authorised supervisor when the Children’s Services Regulation 2004 came into effect but who have not completed the ‘ Making a Difference’ training package will need to complete an approved child protection training course as follows:
- If they are proposed to be employed in a service to be licensed under the new 2004 Regulation, they must complete the training before they can be approved as an authorised supervisor for that service
- people who were not approved and employed as an authorised supervisor when the Regulation came into effect and who wish to be approved as an authorised supervisor at a service licensed under the 2004 Regulation must complete the child protection training prior to being approved as the authorised supervisor
The Child Protection training referred to in this advice is:
- competency name: Identify and Respond to Risk of Harm in Children and Young People
- evidence of successful completion: Statement of Attainment
- competency number: CHCCHILD1B or CHCCHILD1C
(From the Community Services Training Package CHC02) - from: any Registered Training Organisation (RTO)
The authorised supervisor must provide a ‘Certificate of Attainment’ to demonstrate they have successfully completed the course and the assessment and therefore have the skills and knowledge to meet the requirements of the Regulation.
A ‘Certificate of Attendance’ is not adequate as this only indicates that the participant has attended the course. Under the Children’s Services Regulation 2004 the child protection course only has to be completed once. Licensees and temporary supervisors are not required to undertake the training, but it is recommended.
Temporary supervisors who wish to apply for the position of authorised supervisor at any time will need to complete the training prior to approval for the authorised supervisor position.
Refer to Clause 13 - Information about training and development.
Refer to Clause 15(2)(e) - Authorised supervisor.
Q. Who needs to comply with the requirements for mandatory reporters?
A. All primary contact staff are mandatory reporters. Part 2 section 27 ‘Mandatory reporting’ of the Children and Young Person (Care and Protection) Act1998, No 157, says that a person, who, in the course of his or her professional work or other paid employment, delivers a children’s service or holds a management position in such an organisation, is a mandatory reporter.
See more information about mandatory reporters.
Q. Who is required to complete management training?
A: Management training is a requirement for approval as an Authorised Supervisor under Clause 15 (3)(a)(iii) of the Regulation:
If a person nominated for the position of Authorised Supervisor is a holder of the Diploma of Children’s Services from the national training package CHC 50302, they are required to have successfully completed the following competency to be eligible for approval as an Authorised Supervisor (Note: Transcripts may need to be checked).
- Competency Number: CHCORG14A or CHCORG14B
- Competency Name: Manage a Service Organisation
- From: any Registered Training Organisation (RTO)
Q. Does the authorised supervisor or temporary supervisor ever have to submit a medical certificate?
A. Licensees may choose to request a medical certificate in order to assist them in assessing the applicant’s ability to meet the requirement of Clause 15(2)(d) ‘fit and proper person’.
The Regulation does not require the applicant for authorised supervisor or temporary supervisor to provide a medical certificate as part of the ‘prescribed documents’ outlined in clause 15(7).
There may be circumstances in which the Director General may require a medical certificate concerning a proposed authorised supervisor during the processing of an application. Section 206(4) of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 provides further information about this.
Refer to Clause 15 - Authorised supervisor and section 206(4) of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.
Q. Do services applying for a further licence need to have their plans submitted again?
A. Site and building plans are not required unless there have been structural alterations (including fences) since the previous licence was granted. The Explanatory Notes which accompany the Application for Further Licence provide further information on this.
Refer to Clause 21 - Further licences.
Q. Is an application for a ‘new’ service required if a current licensed service’s building is demolished and rebuilt? Does this require a ‘new’ application or is it covered under an application for ‘further licence’?
A. Yes, centre-based and home-based licensees will need to submit an application for a ‘new’ licence if there are changes to the existing licensed premises, such as major renovations, that substantially alter those premises where the service is provided.
Note: A ‘new’ licence application and assessment will also be required where there is a change of licensee and where a centre-based or home-based service moves to new premises.
Q. How will DOCS staff assess a service for compliance?
A. A CSO will assess a service against clauses of the Regulation which are relevant for that service. They will not necessarily make assessments against every single clause of the Regulation each time they visit a service.
They may select a particular section which relates to the purpose of the visit. For example, if the visit focuses on Part 4 - Staffing requirements, the CSO would check against the relevant clauses of the Regulation to ensure that adequate staff, with appropriate qualifications, are present.
Q. How will services know what clauses of the Regulation the CSA has identified as not being met?
A. If areas of non-compliance are identified, the CSO will discuss with the responsible person at the service and DoCS will formally notify the licensee. The licensee will receive a letter outlining what clauses of the Regulation need to be addressed. This will be the licensee’s record of DoCS’ assessment of the service.
Q. Will individual Family Day Care homes be visited to assess compliance?
A. In Family Day Care, DoCS CSOs may visit carers’ homes as part of compliance assessment and monitoring.
Q. What will happen if a change of committee members and/or authorised supervisor occurs in the 6 months after an application for licence has been submitted and before the licence is issued, or during the licensed period?
A. Refer to Clause 102 - Change of authorised supervisor and Clause 105 - Notice of change relating to authorised supervisor.
The application for further licence will be processed on the information relating to the licence applicant at the time the application was submitted. Should there be a change in the licensee representatives after the application is submitted, or during the period of the licence, the relevant documentation for the new office bearers should be submitted to DoCS without delay. Documentation will be processed by the Children’s Services Adviser when received.
In relation to the authorised supervisor position, licensees will need to submit an application for an authorised supervisor as soon as possible. A licence cannot be issued without the service having a current approved authorised supervisor.
Q. What photo identification is acceptable as identification for the Licensee, Authorised Supervisor & Temporary Supervisor? Do the photos need to be certified?
A. Refer to Clause 10 - Identity documents to accompany application. Clause 15 (7) - Authorised Supervisor and Clause 21 (3) - Further licence.
An applicant for a licence for a children’ service under the 2004 Regulation must provide duly certified copies of the identity documents listed in Clause 10 subclause (2).
Applicants for the position of Authorised Supervisor and Temporary Supervisor are required to submit identity photographs under Clause 10 (1) (d).
Q. If a service does not have access to the internet how does the licensee obtain the licence application & the authorised supervisor application?
A. If services do not have access to the internet they may contact their CSO or their Association. Refer to Clause 8 - How is an application made?
Q. Where the same management committee is the licensee for 2 separate licensed services, can photocopies of the personal details for the committee members be photocopied for the second service and be submitted to DoCS?
A. Refer to Clause 10 – Identity documents to accompany application, Clause 11 – Documents showing the applicant is a fit and proper person and Clause 21 - Further licences.
An application licence must be accompanied by the documents described in Clauses 10, 11 and 21. Where duly certified copies of documents are required the certification must be original, not a photocopy.
Q. An application for a licence for a new service has to be accompanied by building and site plans. By whom must the plans be drawn?
A. The plans must be drawn by an architect within the meaning of the Architects Act 2003 or a person who is accredited by the Building Designers Association of NSW in relation to the design of a class of buildings that includes children’s services.
The names of registered architects can be searched on the NSW Architects Registration Board’s website at www.architects.nsw.gov.au.
The names of persons accredited can be obtained from the Building Designers Association of NSW Info line: 1300 669 854 or phone (02) 4926-4855.
Q. An application for a licence for a new service must be accompanied by a statement of premises compliance or non-compliance with facilities and equipment provisions of Part 3 of the Regulation. Who has to sign the statement?
A. The statement has to be signed by the licence applicant and by the registered architect or person accredited by the Building Designers Association of NSW who drew the plans submitted with the application.
Q. Is shade required to be shown in plans for licensing?
A. Refer to Clause16(1)(c) - Information about premises to accompany application – centre-based or mobile children’s service.
Plans for centre-based or mobile children’s services are required to show the location of all shaded areas on the premises. The Cancer Council of NSW has a useful resource on shade and sun protection guidelines titled Shade for Child Care Services.
Q. When is a Venue Management Plan to be provided?
A. Refer to Clause 17 - Venue management plans for mobile children’s’ services.
A Venue Management Plan (VMP) is to be provided with the licence application for a mobile children’s service when any part of the premises from which the mobile service operates does not comply with Part 3 Facilities and equipment.
Venue Management Plans and the transition period.
Schedule 2 Clause 6 - Venue management plans.
Mobile services which were licensed at 30 September 2004 when the 2004 Regulation came in, and whose licenses do not expire until the end of the transition period, must submit a VMP to DoCS before the expiry of the transition period, ie 31 December 2005, if any part of the premises do not comply with Part 3 Facilities and equipment. The VMP must meet the provisions of Clause 17.
Q. Is there a ‘Code of Conduct’ in the Children’s Services Regulation 2004 as there was in Schedule 2 of the centre-based and Mobile Child Care Services Regulation (No 2) 1996?
A.Refer to Clause 18(2)(a) & (b) - Statement and undertakings about facilities and equipment, administration and policies to accompany application.
The intent of the Code of Conduct is embedded in the Children’s Services Regulation 2004 in Clause 18 Statements and undertakings about facilities and equipment, administration and policies to accompany application.
Clause 18 subclauses 2(a) & (b) require the licensee and authorised supervisor of the service to provide written undertakings that they will comply with Parts 3, 6 & 7. These Parts contain requirements relating to the conduct of a children’s service.
Q. For a mobile children’s service will the name of each mobile venue appear on the licence?
A. Refer to Clause 29 - Change of mobile children’s service.
Each venue will be listed on the licence as the licence application must specify all proposed venues.
If the service is to be relocated, or will no longer be provided at a particular premises, or if an additional premises is to be used, then the licensee of the mobile service must request a variation of their licence.